This invention relates to shipping and storing supports for selectively housing a plurality of articles having varying or different dimensions.
It is a commonplace for controls and reagents used in diagnostic and industrial testing to be shipped and stored in a plurality of different sized articles. The articles can include vials and bottles of various sizes and shapes. The articles can have a generally spherical or generally rectangular cross-sectional diameter. The size of the article can be based on the quantity of reagent needed. Additionally, a plurality of different products, liquid and powder, in a plurality of different sized articles can be supplied at the same time. The use of a plurality of different sized articles is a commonplace when the reagents are supplied in kit form.
A tight frictional fit of the article to be supported or retained in said support protects the article during shipping. A tight frictional fit also allows the articles to be oriented for handling and processing.
Tray-like holders for supporting objects having identical or substantially similiar lengths and substantially similar cross-sectional diameters for shipping and storing are well known. Examples of such tray-like holders include Weiss U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,247 and Jones U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,161. The Weiss patent relates to the supporting of elongated articles in compartments having generally U-shaped cross-sections. The Jones patent relates to supporting flat rectangular objects, such as microscope slides. Both Weiss and Jones provide tray-like holders with a plurality of recesses or compartments for the same sized article. Hecker U.S. Pat. No. 3,270,877 relates to the transport and handling of a plurality of generally similar columnar articles of varying lengths. Hecker provides a compartment with repetitive troughs of generally U-shaped configuration with a plurality of slits to restrain endwise or axial movement of the articles.
Other prior art devices, for example, Laraway and Rockwell U.S. Pat. No. 10,132 provide a recess for a specific article which conforms to the shape of the article. The recess accommodates only one specific article and is not adapted to accommodate a plurality of articles wherein the articles have different dimensions in relation to one another.